Buses in Saint Petersburg

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Petersburg Bus (Петербу́ргский авто́бус) is one of transport systems of the city of Saint Petersburg and its suburbs. The Committee for Transportation of Saint Petersburg Government (Комитет по транспорту Правительства Санкт-Петербурга) is the main operator of the buses transport in the city. Under the Committee works a various types of transport companies such as Passazhiravtotrans (state unitary enterprise) and West-Service LLC, Third Park РJSC, Domtransauto LLC, Taksi LLC (Taxi).^[1]

The first buses began to circulate in 1907 and were operated by Saint Petersburg Automobile-Omnibus Company (Санкт-Петербургское товарищество автомобильно-омнибусного сообщения). During World War I, all the municipal transport was stopped, and didn't recover until the end of the October Revolution. The buses system was relaunched in Leningrad on July 8, 1926. The first Russian-made bus was Ya-6 which was manufactured by ARZ. The first bus company was Lenkomtrans (Ленкомтранс) which was later renamed to Passazhiravtotrans (Пассажиравтотранс). During World War II all the transportation was operated by the Red Army. In March 1945 the city council recovered the buses system and started to manufacture their own buses made by AZUL factory. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the buses were operated by Passazhiravtotrans which become the main operator but not the only one. From July 2012 until 2020 there are night lines in the city.^[2][3]

In 2022, The Committee for Transportation of Saint Petersburg Government launched the Transportation Reform.^{[citation needed]} The reform meant the following:

One of the main tasks was to abolish marshrutka services in Saint Petersburg (fixed-route taxicab services of Leningrad Oblast were not affected). Instead, they were completely replaced by "social" transport (buses, trolleybuses, trams, where fares are set by the city of Saint Petersburg). The routes of "social" transport were adjusted to replace former marshrutka routes.^[4] To remove duplicate routes, some "social" routes were also abolished.^[5] Another change affected way of stopping: the buses were no longer allowed to stop wherever passengers ask the driver to.

In 2021-2022, transport companies bought new buses to operate according to the rules of the reform:

• Type of fuel: CNG or LNG
• One colour: cyan
• Equipment: air-conditiong, validators, electronic destination displays inner displays, USB-chargers etc. were mandatory.

To encourage passengers to use public transport more, the model of free interchanges was introduced. This means:

Free interchanges are available in all buses, trolleybuses and trams of the city of Saint Petersburg with the Podorozhnik transport card only.

Another change affected ways of payment: in buses of private companies (West-Service LLC, Third Park РJSC, Domtransauto LLC, Taksi LLC):

• Cash is no longer accepted;
• No bus conductors;
• Drivers do not sell tickets. Passengers have to pay at the entrance by tapping their card (Podorozhnik card, discounted tickets (for elderly, students, disabled people etc.) to the validator.

• 
  An LNG-powered Volgabus-4298.G4 of West-Service LLC departing from the bus stop. The orange stickers, placed on the doors, warn that cash is not accepted onboard of the bus
• 
  An LNG-powered MAZ-203.947 of Domtransauto LLC with orange stickers (cash not accepted)

The reform began in April 1, 2022, and ended:

• In July 15, 2022 — all marshrutka buses were banned, but West-Service LLC was unable to replace the older bus stock due to the Volgabus's failure to produce enough buses in time. The company was allowed to operate older stock.
• In November 15, 2022, when the older bus stock was replaced.^[8]